Congress says ‘theft of democracy’ as BJP sweeps Madhya Pradesh RS seats unopposed

Bhopal: The Congress on Thursday questioned the legitimacy of the Rajya Sabha election outcome in Madhya Pradesh, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) unopposed victory was made possible only after the rejection of its candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination papers.

Even as the three BJP candidates received their certificates of election from the Returning Officer (RO) at the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in Bhopal, Congress leaders intensified their attack on the Election Commission and the election process.

Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh alleged that Natarajan’s nomination had been rejected without any legal basis and said the party had already presented its case before the Election Commission.

“Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination papers were rejected unlawfully. The entire case was presented before the Election Commission, highlighting that there are no registered cases against her, nor is her name mentioned in any FIR,” Singh said in a statement.

The allegation that Natarajan concealed a registered criminal case is “highly objectionable” and such a Returning Officer needs to be dismissed, the former Chief Minister said.

Digvijaya Singh also questioned the timing of the declaration of Rajya Sabha results, claiming that the Congress had sought urgent relief from the Supreme Court before the certificates were issued.

“We vehemently oppose this act of theft and will expose it across the country. We will fight this battle to the very end,” he added.

Another senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath echoed the party’s concerns and termed the issuance of election certificates to the BJP candidates a “betrayal of democratic principles”.

“Issuing certificates of election to all three BJP Rajya Sabha candidates in Madhya Pradesh is a betrayal of the state’s people and of democracy itself,” Nath said.

He added that the Election Commission had not yet given a final order on the Congress’ complaint and that a hearing in the Supreme Court was scheduled.

“Such haste is merely an attempt to pull the wool over people’s eyes. This is a clear case of a calculated hijacking of the democratic process,” Nath alleged.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh BJP President Hemant Khandelwal congratulated the three newly elected Rajya Sabha members and expressed confidence that they would effectively raise issues concerning the state and the nation in Parliament.

IANS